A Warwickshire mum who has created her own range of sugar–free lollipops, an ex–accountant who runs Indian cuisine house parties in Solihull and an inventive Worcester cheesemaker are among the Midland producers at next weekend’s Stratford Food Festival.
The eighth annual festival at Stratford Racecourse on September 14 and 15 aims to be “the biggest and best yet” and hopes to attract a record 20,000 visitors.
Headline acts will be Paul Hollywood, a co–judge on BBC2’s smash hit The Great British Bake Off and top young female chef Sophie Michell, a former co-presenter on Channel 4?s Cook Yourself Thin.
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Artisan baker Paul who originally trained as a sculptor, is giving three 45–minute cookery demonstrations at 11am, 1pm and 3pm, and signing copies of his books, Bread and How to Bake, on September 15. It is the 47–year–old’s first visit to Stratford-upon-Avon.
Sophie will be giving two demonstrations on September 14, cooking up hangar steak with sweet potato mash and coriander dressing followed by white chocolate and passion fruit creams – recipes from her new healthy-eating cookbook, Love Good Food.
Her interest in healthy eating developed as a private chef for supermodel Claudia Schiffer for two years. Sophie’s other A–list clients have included Leonardo de Caprio and David Cameron.
Sophie has now taken on the exciting role as Britain’s youngest female executive chef at Belgraves Hotel, London, where her contemporary seafood restaurant will be opening this month.
“I absolutely think that everyone should have the chance to learn to cook. I developed ME when I was 15, and had to take two months off school. Luckily I’ve been really well for the last two years, but I still have to be careful and watch what I eat,” she explains.
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“To help my recovery, I learned to cook and developed an eating plan to regain my strength, which has developed into a philosophy of cooking – that we can all eat ourselves healthy by feasting on the right sort of top–notch gourmet food.”
Also at the festival is quirky food historian, Seren Evans-Charrington, who will be serving up recipes referred to in Shakespeare’s plays, while dressed in full period costume.
The professional cook and educator, who runs her own business, Bubbling Stove, in Bwych–llan, near Lampeter, was featured in four episodes of ITV1’s series Country House Sunday talking about Frugal cooking, Victorian cooking, Georgian cooking and Victorian cleaning.
At demonstrations on Saturday and Sunday, Seren is recreating a 14th-century dish, Warden Pie, a rich, saffron coloured pastry case filled with pears and spices. She will also be making Date and Quince Pastries and Elizabethan cheesecake.
Seren recently scooped a Bronze award at the 2013 British Pie Awards in Melton Mowbray for her Victorian curry pie in the vegetarian pie class. She has worked in costume since 2007, portraying characters and food history from the medieval period to the 1940s.
A third of the 100 exhibitors at the food festival are from Warwickshire and the West Midlands. They include Warwickshire mum turned entrepreneur Louise Carr-Smith, from Stratford–upon–Avon who will be bringing Cleverpop, her new range of sugar–free ‘healthy’ lollipops, due to hit the high street this year.
And Worcester cheese–maker Nick Hodgets, who founded Croome Cuisine three years ago to create innovative cheeses from local iconic ingredients. After making traditional cheeses for 20 years, Nick developed a range of inventive flavours created from local ingredients including Hereford Hop; Scrumpy’s cider and apple; and Worcester honey and fig, made using Worcestershire honey. Also exhibiting will be Coventry–based balti scotch eggs makers Bibijis and Jackie McKenzie who is crazy about everything to do with chillies. She runs her own business in Solihull selling dried chillies, chilli chocolate, chilli–inspired earrings, bowls, ties, bow ties, USB sticks and even chilli inspired sculpture.
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Expert chef and author Anita Sharma–James, who runs her own Indian cookery school The Spice Trade in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, is running interactive workshops on how to produce a truly tasty and authentic curry from scratch using local produce. Lively and entrepreneurial ex–accountant Moushumi Moran is hosting a cookery tutorial on Saturday showing how to make the perfect vegetable samosa. The cookery expert has created a successful business called The Cardamom Pod, organising Indian cuisine cooking parties in homes across Solihull. She explains: “It is like the popular TV cooking shows except that I do it for groups of five people or more in their own houses and they all get to learn and participate in the cooking first hand.
“The real bonus is that the people who attend have the opportunity to eat they food they make in a convivial dinner party atmosphere and have a great “night in”.”
Visitors with a sweet tooth may enjoy sampling hand–made gateaux and desserts from Blueberry Hill Patisserie in Leamington, one of 50 milkshakes and smoothies by Stratford–upon–Avon company Blue Cross/Blue Cow’s or luxury chocolates handmade in Leamington by Fine Chocolate Spa.
* Tickets are available to book early online for £5 or £6 on the gate. Accompanied children under 16 go free. Demonstration tickets for Paul Hollywood are £3 and can be booked in advance Indian cookery workshops by Cardamom Pod and Anita Sharma-James from The Spice Trade cost each £10 to attend. To book tickets visit